About the Guanacaste Tourism Chamber

“Making of Guanacaste a better place to visit, invest and live.”

Objectives and actions.

CATURGUA, Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism, serves the needs of the sector generating actions and activities that directly rectify them. It focuses on promoting the destination at national and international levels, supports the opening of new markets and the arrival of new airlines to Daniel Oduber International Airport.

Our affiliates know that through being part of CARTURGUA is a way to collaborate with the development of the province, since our teamwork leads projects related to road infrastructure, airports, telecommunications, culture, training, and respect for the environment, among others.

A mission.

Manage strategic initiatives to promote the development of sustainable tourism in Guanacaste, representing our affiliates and based on our values.

A vision

Be a leader and model chamber of tourism, promoting actions that make Guanacaste worldwide, a sustainable tourism destination of excellence.

Caturgua in Action: Courses, negotiations with government and institutions, promotion of SMEs, fostering education, boosting tourism ... are just some of the daily tasks that drive the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism.

Our history:

CATURGUA was founded in 1995, with the participation of several visionary entrepreneurs in the area. It started with about 25 members, mainly from the canton of Santa Cruz as an initiative to organize the sector and defend their interests, but it soon expanded its scope to other areas of the province.

One of the most important achievements in recent years was the active participation in the commission for the pre-opening of the Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia, a joint committee of public and private sector, led by this Chamber.

Later, the Chamber participates and leads the the alliance between Reserva Conchal Hacienda Pinilla and Papagayo Eco-Development to secure the funds required for Delta Airlines to start flying to this airport. This was the beginning of the growth of Guanacaste as a tourist destination and the beginning of many successes for Caturgua and Guanacaste.

In 2004 the Board of the Chamber formalizes a task force and an increase in the capabilities and achievements of Caturgua in different areas. A group of marketing tools for the province is created, and there is research on flight information flows, visitor profiles and other information for use by the affiliates, which increased from 25 founding members to more than 100 affiliates.

The Chamber also appears on the national map becoming part of commissions, boards and delegations to improve security, the airport, telecommunications, road infrastructure and services in the area, among others. Besides appearing regularly in the media by maintaining direct contact with the different government bodies in the process of obtaining the welfare of Guanacaste.

Today, the Chamber is formed by a team focused on generating consolidated actions to benefit the sector, always with the working philosophy that promotes the social and economic development of the region.

Since its origin in 1995, the Directive Board has maintained strong values and set an example as a 100% transparent association in all the work it develops. Along with a private company holding the monthly accounting, CATURGUA has a second company that annually audits the financial statements of the association, so that members can have peace of belonging to a Chamber that is doing things right.

In cases where there have been projects including donations from the private sector, CATURGUA has always hired specialized companies to audit the management of funds from such donations. For its prestige and its important role in the province, the Chamber has been declared as a community interest organization.

Our affiliates:

We currently have over 180 members including tourism businesses, as well as products and/or services related to the sector. Among our partners we have hotels, tour operators, rent a cars, restaurants, airlines, developers, law firms, accounting and auditing, banking, and others.

In CATURGUA, the representativeness of the sector is a key point for the success of our work.

Our affiliates are strong companies in the area; from diverse fields and different sizes and scopes (large, medium and small), which makes us a group representing the interests of the entire tourism sector.